Simulation of conjugate mass transfer in multiphase flow: A new unified approach based on the phase field method

Abstract

Conjugate mass transfer phenomena are commonly found in industries and nature. It raises a serious challenge for numerical research, because at interfaces not only the continuity of mass flux but also the concentration jump (i.e. Henry's law) must be guaranteed. A complicated interface will further increase the complexity of numerical research of conjugate mass transfer. The phase field method has an intrinsic advantage over the other available numerical methods to model complicated interfaces, but so far there is no efforts to investigate interphase mass transfer with the aid of phase field method. The challenge is to design an appropriate governing equation for concentration field, which can be coupled with the phase field method and meanwhile can describe conjugate mass transfer in a unified manner. In this study, a new governing equation for concentration field is proposed to address the challenge. A number of benchmark test cases are employed to validate the present approach. The excellent agreement of the present numerical results with the analytical solutions and published data can demonstrate the applicability of the present approach for simulating conjugate mass transfer not only with a flat stationary interface but also with a moving/curved interface.